FALKIRK 2
Mitchell 64, Bullen 79

HAMILTON 0
(HT 0-0)
Attendance: 5268
(Falkirk: 4927)
Scottish Premier League

A fairly dull and uneventful encounter at The Falkirk Stadium burst into life in the second half when Chris Mitchell curled a stunning free kick past Tomas Cerny.

And the valuable three points - which means the gap to Hamilton and Kilmarnock in joint second bottom is cut to just one – were secured when substitute Lee Bullen, who was playing up front, burst the net with 11 minutes remaining.

Despite the torrential downpours this week, and a virtually unplayable Westfield pitch on Friday afternoon, the game went ahead as scheduled, although fans were warned to maintain their ticket stubs to gain re-entry on another date should it be abandoned at any stage.

The rain did subside slightly by 3 p.m. and the Bairns took to the field with only one change from their 3-3 draw against Celtic two weeks previously, Carl Finnigan replacing the injured Alex MacDonald in a 4-4-2 formation. New signing Pedro 'Pele' Monteiro, meanwhile, took his place on the bench.

And it was Falkirk that were first to show when Pedro Moutinho did well in midfield to set-up Ryan Flynn for an audacious shot from more than 40-yards, which forced Cerny to scramble back before collecting the ball under his crossbar.

Hamilton, in their orange away strip, then had a half-chance after Mitchell's clearance was charged down by Simon Mensing. But Robert Olejnik was quick off his line to prevent Mickel Antoine-Curier from getting a shot in. The visitors continued to press, though, and James Wesolowski's low drive from 18 yards zipped off the wet surface and flew just wide of the left post.

With 19 minutes gone, Vitor Lima had a similar effort at the other end and Cerny did well to smother at the second attempt. But Accies continued to have the edge in terms of possession and Mark McLaughlin was inches away from finding the net with a header, before Mensing's long-range shot flew wide of the mark. Brian McLean then produced an excellent block to stop Antoine-Curier from pulling the trigger.

The Bairns finally broke the visitors' momentum in the 36th minute when Flynn curled a shot goalward, only for it to be deflected for a corner. A scramble ensued from the resulting set-piece and Moutinho's effort was blocked before Accies cleared.

However, it was Billy Reid's men that continued to dominate and, three minutes from the break, a superb ball from midfield by James McArthur picked out Antoine-Curier. But, one-on-one with Olejnik, he incredibly squandered the gilt-edged opportunity to open the scoring and the Austrian keeper saved.

The half-time whistle followed one minute later and Falkirk may well have felt relieved not to be at least one down as they walked up the tunnel.

Shooting toward the south stand after the interval, Eddie May's side began with some purpose and Lima's stunning snap-shot fizzed just off target. However, the following quarter of an hour came and went with little for either set of fans to get excited about.

Yet that all changed in the 64th minute. McArthur conceded a foul on the edge of the box with a clumsy challenge on Flynn, and Mitchell stepped up to curl a stunning shot into the top right corner, which gave Cerny no chance.

Hamilton could have been back on level terms within a minute, though. But Olejnik pulled off a great stop from Mensing and Antoine-Curier couldn't convert the rebound.

Lima was then booked for a foul on Flavio Paixao, but the Hamilton substitute almost got his revenge with an excellent drive that was heading for the top left corner until Olejnik flew through the air to push the ball to safety.

May soon rang the changes in an attempt to protect the lead and sent on Marc Twaddle and, shortly afterwards, Pele for his debut and then Bullen.

Accies pushed for the equaliser and Flavio Paixao went close on two occasions before Reid put on two substitutes. However, within 60 seconds, the Bairns doubled their advantage in the most unlikely of fashion.

Finnigan sent Bullen, who was playing as a forward, clear into the box and, despite the ball bobbling up, the veteran smashed it high into the net from 10 yards to send the home support into raptures.

Arfield almost made it three with a neat flick from Finnigan's cut-back, before the latter found his way into referee Mike Tumilty's book for persistent fouling.

Hamilton tried their level best to reduce the deficit in the closing stages and were given an additional three minutes of added injury time to do so.

But Olejnik was well up to the task and, as the rain continued to lash down, Tumilty blew the final whistle on the Bairns' much-needed first SPL victory of the campaign at the 12th time of asking.

FALKIRK: Olejnik, Allison, Barr, McLean, Mitchell, Arfield, Lima, Flynn (Pele 72), Marceta (Twaddle 69), Moutinho (Bullen 75), Finnigan
NOT USED: Wagenaar (GK), Davidson, Bloom, Murdoch
BOOKED: Lima 66, Finnigan 81

HAMILTON: Cerny, McClenahan, Hastings (Knight 78), Canning, McLaughlin, Wesolowski, McArthur, Antoine-Curier, Neil (F. Piaxo 65), M. Piaxo (Kirkpatrick 78), Mensing
NOT USED: Murdoch (GK), Evans, Elebert, Wilkie
BOOKED: None

REFEREE: Mike Tumilty